Strange Escapes
by SuicuneGirl245
Summary: When Jasmine runs away from home, she buys the first ticket out of town. Little does she know that the town she's heading to isn't quite like anywhere else she's ever been to.
1. Prologue: Night Train

**_Strange Escapes_**

Hi! Thanks for reading this story! I hope you all enjoy it!

I'm not the best with grammar, so if you find any errors, please let me know and I'll fix them right away!

This story takes place in Animal Crossing New Leaf. So there's a little bit of a spoiler to how the first few chapters will play out.

Just a little spoiler though ;)

Thanks again for reading and please let me know what you think!

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_**Prologue**_

They didn't understand me, they never would.

I had to get out.

So I did.

It was late when I left, so they wouldn't know I left. As the door creaked open I froze, and listened to the not so gentle snores of my father. When they didn't falter I continued.

Once the door was closed behind me, I broke into a run. I bought a ticket for the first train out of town, I didn't care where it led me. It was all the money I had on me. I'd been skipping lunch in school for weeks to save up the money.

It wasn't until I was safely aboard the train, watching my old home disappear, that I allowed myself to relax.

"Ex-excuse me, miss?"

I looked up and gawked. Standing before me, was a boy. He was tall and pale, with a nervous smile, and wore jeans and a red plaid sweater. What was strange about him was his hair, it was blue, and sprouting from it was a pair of cat ears. Between his hands he held a long, blue tail with a white tip and his eyes were red, with slit pupils, like a cats.

I blinked. He was still there.

"Excuse me, I just replaced the batteries on my clock, but I'm afraid I don't remember how to reset the date and time. Would you mind giving me a hand?" the cat boy said.

"uh, umm, sure…" I said awkwardly, still gawking. The cat boy smiled at me, revealing a set of sharp, white, cat teeth. He gratefully handed over a small watch, and I set the date for the 14 of May 2014, and the time for 1:15am.

"Oh thank you so much!" He said with another smile. "I'm Rover, by the way. Do you mind if I sit here with you?"

Yes. "N-no, go ahead," I muttered staring at his ears, which twitched swiveled as the train whistled.

"What's your name? If I may ask?"

"Jasmine." I said, wondering if I had somehow eaten some bad chicken for dinner.

"That's a cute name!" Rover said "It suits you!"

"Th-thanks,"

"So, where are you headed?" Rover asked looking me over.

I had to check my ticket. "Uh, MapleTree Valley,"

"Hmm, I don't think I've ever been there, hang on one sec." He said as he pulled a notebook out of his back pocket. He opened it up and began flipping through it, the notebook was filled with maps.

"Ahh, here it is!" He said turning the notebook over so I could see. On the page he indicated was a small green map with a river splitting the town into 3 sections. There were several houses marked out on the map, as well as a few stores and landmarks.

I half smiled, at least the town looked cozy.

"I have a cousin who lives there actually," Rover said, "It's a nice little town, don't ya think?"

"Well, I've never actually been there." I said simply

"Oh! Well you'll love it there! What made you decide to visit Maple Tree Valley?"

"I'm moving."

"You're moving to Maple Tree Valley, and you've never been there? You don't have much luggage with you, do you already have a house picked out?" Rover asked looking concerned.

I looked down, I hadn't really thought about that. I hadn't really thought much about anything really, I was just so desperate to get away.

"I-I'm sure I'll be fine." I said, less than convincingly.

Rover didn't look so sure either. But then he smiled and said "Well, you look like the lucky type. I'm sure you'll be just fine!"

"Thanks, I hope so."

The train whistled again, and began to slow.

"Maple Tree Valley! Next stop, Maple Tree Valley!" The words rang out over the intercom.

"Well, this is your stop!" Rover said with a smile. He held out his hand "I hope you enjoy it there. It was nice meeting you."

I smiled and shook his hand. "Nice meeting you too." Despite the fact that you're a creepy cat dude. I was never going to see anything like him again, that was for sure.

As the train came to a halt and I made my way off, I really started to worry about how I was going to survive. I had no money, no possessions, nowhere to stay. All I had was the shirt on my back.

What came next was the last thing I was expecting.


	2. 1: Mayor?

_**Chapter 1: Welcome to Maple Tree Valley**_

"Welcome Mayor!" a chorus of voices called, causing me to fall out of the train rather than step out as I had originally planned. The crowd's cheers hushed suddenly and someone rushed forward to help me up. I thanked them and pushed my freshly dyed red hair out of my face and froze. The good Samaritan was a young woman, mid 20's perhaps, wearing a green plaid vest over a white blouse and a grey pencil skirt, with curly blond hair, kept in a top-knot bun on top of her head, dark eyes, fluffy dog ears, and an equally fluffy white tipped tail that stuck out of the bottom of her pencil skirt.

I looked around, the crowed at the station was entirely made up of half human/half animal creatures. I held my head, maybe I was going insane after all. Either way, this new adventure was giving me a headache.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mayor. Are you alright?" The dog woman asked

"Y-yeah, I'm fin- Wait. What did you call me?"

"Oh, Mayor of course! Welcome to Maple Tree Valley, We've been expecting you silly!" she said with a pleasant smile, revealing large canines and incisors.

"Oh, no. You must have me mistaken for someone else." I said holding up my hands. I hadn't even known where I was going until after I bought the ticket.

The crowd seemed confused by my words and they started muttering to each other. The blond dog started to look nervous and she checked a little clip board that she'd had in her hands. I'd just noticed it, but she must have had it with her the whole time.

"No, there's no mistake!" She stated "It says here that you were to arrive on this very train!"

"You don't understand. There's no way I can b-"

"Oh well a sense of humor certainly is a great quality to have in a community leader, don't you all agree?" The dog said, cutting me off. The crowd laughed and nodded assent, seemingly reassured that all was well.

"Now, why don't you and I head down to the Town Hall where we can work out the formalities, alright?" She said, grabbing my hand and dragging me away from the crowd.

"I'm Isabelle by the way, I didn't catch your name?" She said cheerfully as we traveled through a small forest.

"J-Jasmine." I stammered as I tried to avoid tripping over roots and rocks.

"Welcome to Maple Tree Valley! I'm sure you'll like it here! There's not much to us yet, but I'm sure with a mayor like you this place will be in tip-top shape in no time!" The trees ended and before them was a small, brown, run down building. The windows were dark and dusty, though my some miracle it seemed the clock above the door was still in working order.

"Here we are!" Isabella said ushering me inside. Inside the building was much better kept, though still a little cluttered. There was a large desk that split the room in half, and behind that was a smaller desk with a black swivel chair. There was paperwork, files, and junk covering the smaller desk, piled precariously almost to the ceiling.

"Right, so first things first, well need to have you fill out a residency form!" Isabelle said diving behind the front desk and rummaging through several stacks of papers before finally pulling out the one she was looking for.

"Alright, name, Jasmine, perfect! Umm, where are you going to be living?" Isabelle asked looking up from the form.

"Umm, well…" I looked at the ground. "I don't actually have anywhere to live as of yet…"

"Oh goodness you don't?" Isabelle gasped. "I'm so sorry! I rushed you out of the train station before you were even able to get your bearings here! My apologies miss mayor! To make it up to you, I'll call Mr. Nook right away and have him meet you at his shop promptly so you can get that sorted out! Normally he'd be closed at this hour, but I'm sure he'd be willing to make an exception for our new mayor."

Isabelle picked up the phone and rapidly dialed a number. After a few moments she began speaking frantically for a few moments. When she was finished she hung up the phone with a triumphant smile on her face.

"Excellent, it's all been settled then. Just go on over to Tom Nook's Real Estate Agency, and he should already be there ready to meet you! Then you two can discuss where you want to live!" Isabelle cheered.

"Umm, great… Where is that exactly?" I asked. Now was my chance to escape. But if I ran now, I wouldn't get a place to live. It seemed as though all of my previous worries were being solved right before my eyes. Job, check; home, potential check. My only problems at the moment were my sanity and potentially running into a carnivorous hungry citizen. I cringed, there may have been a crocodile in that crowd, now that I thought about it.

"Oh, how silly of me! You haven't explored town yet! Here I have a map for you!" Isabelle promptly pulled a folded piece of paper from her clip board and handed it to me. She pointed to a reddish building toward the center of town. "This is where we are now, and to get to Nook's you just cross the train tracks here." She flipped over the folded piece of paper to reveal a small shopping district. She pointed to a little blue house symbol. "and then head here! You really can't miss it, especially since it'll probably be the only shop lit up at this hour. Though most of the shops in the shopping district seem to be dark most of the time now it seems." She said seeming bothered by something. But she quickly pushed it away and the happy puppy person reappeared.

"Well, that's all you should need, directionally! Good luck, and I hope you find a great place to stay!" Isabelle said, ushering me out the door. Once outside I checked my map again in the light from the lit up Town Hall building before making my way through the woods again. It was a little creepy, being in the woods by myself, in this strange little village. I found myself jumping at every rustle of branches, wind or otherwise. By the time I got out of the woods I was practically running.

The train tracks were easy to spot from there, as the train station was the only thing lit up in the direction I was headed. It appeared that I wasn't the only thing falling on hard times. My realization was further confirmed when I entered the shopping district. Most of the shops were boarded up, and the only things lit up were a large white building way off to my right, and the blue Real Estate building to which I was headed. Just as Isabelle had described. I looked around as I made my way over. There was a lamp beside a small shack of a shop, but it seemed as though the bulb was broken or missing.

The door to Tom Nook's Real Estate Agency flew open before I even knocked. And a tall man with dark haired man with blue eyes, thick black eyebrows, and two small brown ears poked his head out.

"Ahh, you must be the mayor! Come in, come in! Quickly! I'll have you know I don't open my doors this late for just anyone!"

I was rushed inside. It was brightly lit and had rows of paint colors, roofing tiles, walkway stones, mailboxes, ect spaced about neatly, despite the small space. The man, Tom Nook, who had ushered me in was wearing a knitted green sweater vest over a white collared shirt and khaki pants. He also sported a fluffy raccoon tail, which solved the mystery of what kind of hybrid I would next encounter. I was relieved that it wasn't the alligator.

"Nice place here I bet you're thinking. Thank you, thank you, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud of it. But on to business! Isabelle said you just arrived in town and haven't had a chance to procure a place of residence for yourself yet. Is that correct?" Tom said. He was a fast talker.

I had just opened my mouth to answer when the raccoon man continued

"Excellent. Now unfortunately, we don't have any vacant homes for you here at the moment. However, fret not Miss Mayor, for I can in fact build you a home."

Build a home? I thought furrowing my brows

"I see that look Miss Mayor, but think of the positives! You can choose to live wherever you wish! I see Isabelle has given you a map! If you have an idea of where you'd like to hang your cap we can mosey down there now and mark out the construction site!" Tom said with a smile.

"Umm, that'd be great." I said looking to the map. There was the river, dividing the town into three sections. It seemed like the middle section was all but deserted. It might make for a nice, isolated place to stay. I thought. But there was also the property along the beach line, I mean who doesn't like to watch the sunset? The train station was also temption, I thought, in case I was ever in need of a quick getaway.

"Umm how about over here?" I asked finally settling on a location.

Tom Nook observed where I had placed my finger and then swiftly shot upright and clapped his hands together. "Excellent, off we go then!"

I had to jog to keep up with him as he speedily proceeded to our destination. Once there, Tom marked off a small section with a wooden sign and a few posts linked together with red tape, which he'd pulled from a large duffle bag. The sign red 'Mayor Jasmine's Manor.' It was scribbled on with black marker.

"Alright, there we go! How does it look so far? I know what you're thinking! It doesn't look like much now, but that's because there's nothing there yet! Once it's up and built you'll be gob smacked, trust me! Now that we've got the location sorted out we can move on to the discussion of price."

"Price?" I said looking up alarmed. I didn't bring any money. What if he expected to be paid right away? Would he feed me to the crocodile if I couldn't pay him?

"Well of course Miss Mayor! Houses aren't built for free you know! Now I don't have the numbers figured out just yet. But just be sure to stop by my shop tomorrow during working hours and I'll have the numbers sorted out by then. In the meantime, however, you still don't have anywhere to stay. But don't you worry none. I've thought things through." He said. I watched as he pulled out a large yellow square and handed it to me before pulling 6 metal pegs from the duffle bag. Together we set up a small yellow tent and hammered a makeshift mailbox into the ground next to it from an empty toolbox that was duct taped to a wooden peg.

"There, look I even thought of a mail box for ya! Once we're all agreed on the numbers and I send the order in, it should take about a day to finish construction, so you won't be in here long, I assure ya." Tom said with a wink. "Now, I'm going to head off back to bed. Have a good night Miss Mayor, and don't worry about the tent, just think of it like you're out camping for a few nights! Beats sleeping outside anyway."

"I guess…" I muttered as Tom disappeared into the trees. I checked my map. "Well I guess I have to head back to Town Hall now…"

"Great! I'm glad you got everything sorted out with your living arrangements! Now we can finish filling out this form!" Isabelle cheered pulling out the paper again.

"Umm, look I really appreciate you going out of your way to get me a place to stay and all, but I just don't really think I'm cut out to be your mayor." I said rubbing the back of my neck.

"Oh you don't have to be so modest Jasmine!" Isabelle said "I know you've got what it takes! I'm sure everything will be just fine now that you're here! I'm almost done with the form! I just need your birthday!"

"Oh it's umm April, 2nd," I sighed in defeat.

"Perfect! All done! I'll send that in and get you your Town Pass Card! Then we can start working on your Development Permit! Tomorrow morning well have a ceremony to commemorate your start as mayor here! You'll want to be there promptly at 8:00am! I'll come wake you if you need me to!" She said.

"Umm, sure, I mean, I don't really have an alarm clock." I muttered.

"Oh! That's right! There was something I found when tidying up that I wanted to give you! Hang on!" She said suddenly, as she dove behind the desk again. When she reappeared she was holding a small oil lamp.

"Here! I found this in one of the supply closets and since you'll be staying in a tent for a few days I thought it would be the perfect house warming present! It's perfect for camping!" She said handing it to me with a delighted smile on her face.

I couldn't help but smile back. Isabelle may have been some sick freak of nature. But she wasn't too bad. "Th-thanks," I muttered looping my arm through the handle so it dangled at my side.

"No problem mayor! Have a great first night in Maple Tree Valley!"

Back in the tent I set the lamp in the far right corner. There really wasn't much room in there, but somehow the little burning flame made it seem more cozy than cramped. My escape plan wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, though admittedly it was probably the strangest night of my life. I had a job and a place to stay now. I'd have to worry about money later. I mean I'm sure the mayor had some kind of salary right? Everything would work out ok, as long as the hybrids didn't kill me tonight in my sleep. I drifted off thinking of warm thoughts and for the first night in months, I didn't have nightmares, I didn't even dream that I could recall.

The next morning I woke up, and the cardboard red tail on my mailbox was flipped up. I looked at it curiously, how could I have mail already? I had only moved in last night.

"Morning Miss Mayor!" A voice said. I looked over and saw Isabelle smiling and waving standing beside a man with white feathery hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a green hat, shorts, and jacket and sported a mail bag. I'm pretty sure he had webbed feet, but I didn't look long enough to be sure.

"I'm Pete, the mail delivery man! I just wanted to drop by and introduce myself since you're new here and all! I deliver the mail every morning, so be sure to check for it!" He said before waddling off. As he left, I noticed a little white feathery tail poking out from his uniform.

"Well! You've already got mail! That's exciting! I'll leave you to check it out! I just wanted to make sure you were up and ready for the festival today!" Isabelle said. She showed me where to go on the map before hastily scampering off into the trees again.

I was left staring at the makeshift mail box once again. Who could know I was here? I cautiously opened the mail box, there was only one letter inside.

Dear Mayor,

I hope you're liking Maple Tree Valley! I was actually supposed to be Mayor, but plans changed at the last minute. Funny how things works out isn't it? Well, I'm glad that you arrived to take my place, as I know the people of Maple Tree Valley really need a strong leader at the moment! Work hard and I'm sure that little village will be back to its former glory in no time flat!"

Sincerely,

No one of consequence

I stared at the letter and read it again just to make sure I'd read everything correctly. Funny how things work out isn't it? I chuckled, that was one way to put it! I tucked the envelope in my pocket and pulled out my map before heading to the Town Square. I wasn't so sure if I was cut out for this job. But these…things, had been kind to me so far, and now I knew they really needed someone. So I decided that I would try to help them out.

I just hoped I'd be good enough for the job.


End file.
